John Rowland And William Workman

Relive the lives of John Rowland and William Workman through this single volume story of two men whose friendship endured for 40 years of adventure, adversity and success on the New Mexico and California frontiers. Complete with illustrations, maps and photos.

California’s early history was both colorful and turbulent. After Europeans first explored the region in the sixteenth century, it was conquered and colonized by successive waves of adventurers and settlers. In Contest for California, award-winning author Stephen G. Hyslop draws on a wide array of primary sources to weave an elegant narrative of this epic struggle for control of the territory that many saw as a beautiful, sprawling land of promise. In vivid detail, Hyslop traces the story of early California from its founding in 1769 by Spanish colonists to its annexation in 1848 by the United States. He describes the motivations and activities of colonizers and colonized alike. Using eyewitness accounts, he allows all participants—Native American, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American—to have their say. Soldiers, settlers, missionaries, and merchants testify to the heroic and commonplace, the colorful and tragic, in California’s pre-American history. Even as he acknowledges the dark side of this story, Hyslop avoids a simplistic perspective. Moving beyond the polarities that have marked late-twentieth-century California historiography, he offers nuanced portraits of such controversial figures as Junípero Serra and treats the Californios and their distinctive Hispanic culture with a respect lacking in earlier histories. Attentive to tensions within the invading groups—priests and the military during the Spanish era, merchants and settlers during the American era—he also never loses sight of their impact on the original inhabitants of the region: California’s Native peoples. He also recounts the journeys of colonists from Russia, England, and other countries who influenced the development of California as it passed from the hands of Spaniards and Mexicans to Americans. Exhaustively researched yet concise, this book offers a much-needed alternative history of early California and its evolution from Spanish colony to American territory.

Walter P. Temple grew up in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California. His father was the founder of Temple City, and his ancestors on both sides were members of the valley's First Families, dating back to 1841. As a boy, he experienced life on a rancho, witnessed the genesis of California's oil fields, and appreciated the natural glory of the valley's hillsides. By the time Walter reached his sixties, he saw that this beautiful valley was changing and prospering, and familiar buildings that had been an integral part of his early heritage were being razed in the path of city development. He knew that if future generations were to value the history of the area, such landmarks must somehow be preserved. He began to record them in sketches, watercolors and oils as gifts to share with those who might appreciate them. Gentle Artist is a collection of those artworks and related family photographs, lovingly presented by Walter's daughter,Josette.

"Now in a one-volume revised edition, this encyclopedia of California historical information remains an ideally practical reference to the state."--From the dust-jacket front flap.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Sixty Years in Southern California, 1853-1913" (Containing the Reminiscences of Harris Newmark) by Harris Newmark. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

California may be the golden state but it is also a garden state. Innumerable gardens have been made since the Europeans first came, starting with the Franciscan missionaries.The gold rush was the defining period, leading to immense expenditures by newly rich miners. This book discusses many simple but beautiful gardens created by waves of immigrants. Gardens were necessary for food but also represented repose and leisure. The nature and style of domestic and private gardens shape the landscape of cities and towns just as much as large civic architectural achievements.